Jagan's channel targets Rahul for Bihar debacle

             Hyderabad: Intensifying its attack on the top leadership of the Congress, Sakshi TV, owned by late YSR Reddy’s son and party MP Jaganmohan, has now criticised Rahul Gandhi for the Bihar poll debacle.

              "A charismatic leader is missing. In its 125-year history, the Congress has never reached a nadir like now." the channel stated in a current affairs programme aired on Thursday night.

Last week, the channel carried stories on the affairs of the Congress criticizing Sonia Gandhi's leadership in the wake of scams in the Commonwealth Games contracts and 2G spectrum allocation.It blamed Sonia Gandhi's "poor leadership" for the party's rout in various states, termed her an "uninspiring speaker".

It also attacked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh describing him as "Sonia Gandhi's rubber stamp".

Pro-democracy party becomes big winner in Tonga

             Two political reformers have emerged as front-runners to become the first prime minister of Tonga to be elected rather than appointed by the king after a vote that marks an important step in the South Pacific nation's slow path toward democracy.

          Of 17 parliamentary seats contested in Thursday's general election, 12 were won by candidates of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands and five by independents. Nine other seats are held by the country's aristocratic landowners, who are selected by fellow nobles. (AP) 

            A Tongan pro-democracy leader has emerged with the biggest bloc of lawmakers after the Pacific nation's historic first vote for a popularly elected parliament.
Akilisi Pohiva, a veteran pro-democracy campaigner, and the leader of the Friendly Islands Human Rights and Democracy party won 12 of the 17 publicly contested seats in Thursday's vote, preliminary results showed. The remaining five publicly contested seats went to independents.

         About 42,000 registered voters had cast their ballots to elect 17 of the 26 members of parliament, in an election hailed as marking the country's transition from monarchy to democracy.
However the poll did not reflect full democracy, as the remaining nine seats are reserved for the kingdom's nobility - or aristocratic landowners.

           Still, King George Tupou V described the vote as "the greatest and most historic day for our kingdom" in an address to the nation before polling stations opened on Thursday."You will choose your representative to the parliament and thus the first elected government in our country's long history," he said.'Happy mood'Officials said voting was "steady" with a "happy mood" around the polling stations.More than 140 candidates were competing for the seats in the legislature.When the make up of the new parliament is complete, the newly elected representatives will elect a prime minister.

           Previously the parliament was dominated by politicians selected by the monarch, who also picked the prime minister and cabinet. Calls for democracy A delegation of 14 observers from Australia and New Zealand were in Tonga to observe the election.

            The election comes after Tonga suffered major political unrest in 2006 when rioters demanding democratic change torched the centre of the capital, Nuku'alofa, burning down buildings and killing eight people.The declining economy was seen as the most pressing issue for Tongan voters. The World Bank estimates up to 40 per cent of Tonga's 123,000 people live on or below the poverty line.

      "People are saying we're very concerned about what we feed ourselves with, our future, how much we get paid, whether we can have the ability to put our kids to school," Kalafi Moala, a voter, said. "The economy is definitely the priority."

Insider-trading investigation

                 Key targets of the government's crackdown on insider trading on Wall Street are "expert network" firms that funnel valuable insights and business-specific data about companies and sectors to big clients, such as hedge funds, to give them an edge when making investment decisions.

                The fact that expert networks are now ensnared in the government's multiyear probe into insider trading was driven home Wednesday. Don Chu, 56, an Asian liaison for the expert network firm Primary Global Research (PGR), was arrested by federal agents for allegedly arranging for the firm's consultants working inside publicly traded companies to pass along "insider information" to the firm's hedge fund clients, who then used the material and non-public information to make profitable trades.

CRACKDOWN: Insider-trading investigation enters 'new phase'

                This is the latest development in what is shaping up as a major offensive by the feds on insider trading. The crackdown is on both criminal and civil fronts, with pressure being exerted by Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York; the FBI; and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

                 Major hedge funds, big mutual fund companies and smaller firms that provide research to big institutional investors are under fire. This week the FBI raided three hedge funds, and federal authorities have started asking some big investment firms for trading data and other records pertinent to the inquiry.

               Securities lawyers say the government is being aggressive by targeting expert network firms. "The Chu arrest reflects the government's willingness to pursue all participants in the insider-trading scheme," says Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC prosecutor and now partner at Shulman Rogers. "This is the first of what will be many indictments."

                   The roughly 40 expert network firms had annual revenue near $400 million in 2009, says Sandy Bragg, CEO at Integrity Research Associates. Nearly four of 10 investment management firms use the networks, Bragg says, and expert consultants earn $100 to $500 an hour.

                 In providing "independent investment research" or "market intelligence," the firms provide a legal service. They typically arrange for clients to meet or communicate with experts who can provide insight on new business strategies, how sales are going and other data points that highlight how a company is faring.

                 In Chu's case, prosecutors allege the information given to the hedge fund client was non-public and material and, therefore, illegal. The complaint says Chu had relationships with employees at firms including Broadcom, Atheros Communications and Sierra Wireless. Prosecutors say Chu would contact his experts to get information about the companies' financials before they reported the results, then pass the information to Richard Choo-Beng Lee, who as a former employee of the hedge fund would use the information to make a profit.Chu's attorney did not respond to a call for comment Wednesday night.

                Lee pleaded guilty to insider-trading charges and has been cooperating with the investigation. In one instance, the complaint alleges that an expert in a phone call gave Lee detailed information on a tech company that included "revenue numbers, average sales prices, unit sales for different product lines, gross margin figures and revenue forecasts."

           Expert networks are "a major gray area right now. We're getting into uncharted territory," says Andrew Stoltmann of Stoltmann Law. The distinction between good fundamental research and misuse of material non-public information will need to be clarified.Stringent compliance policies are in place. PGR's policy states that experts are "explicitly instructed to decline to comment on subjects that represent (company) information that is confidential or proprietary."

Toys “R” Us Black Friday Sales 2010 Offers Free Shipping

                    Toys R Us Free shipping requires no special code or coupon. Just spend over $49.00 at Toys R Us today until Monday and your shipping is free. If you are a member of “Rewards R Us” you will still get your 10% credit on all purchases. This is supposed to be the biggest sale of all time at Toys R Us and the company is promising plenty of online specials throughout the weekend.

               Wal Mart has over 60,000 items available online for free “store to home” shipping. There are tons electronics and computers available online with free shipping and you can still use the free “to Store” shipping option that will ship your item to your nearest store for free. WalMart’s free shipping lasts until late December.Target has gotten into the online fight this year by almost quadrupling its inventory that qualifies for free shipping. No special codes required here as each free shipping item is clearly marked.

                Amazon.com is really getting into the online trend this year as the web site said it will beat any free shipping offer online. this only includes a few items though so it won’t cost the company a bundle. Amazon does offer free shipping on all orders over $25.00 this weekend though.

Deepika Promoting Break Ke Baad in London

              Deepika Padukone was in London to promote her upcoming film Break Ke Baad which stars Imran Khan (I Hate Luv Storys) and is produced by Kunal Kohli (Hum Tum, Fanaa). They have been on a whirlwind promotional tour: Khan is promoting the film in the US and Deepika took some time out from her Desi Boyz shoot to promote the film in the UK and US. Kunal Kohli has also been part of the promotions but unfortunately he became ill and has been admitted in hospital.

                After numerous one-to-one press Interviews, Deepika Padukone made a very short appearance at CHAK89 Restaurant to promote the film. Deepika looked absolutely amazing and it is no wonder that many male fans were waiting for hours to get a glimpse of the beautiful actress.

               Deepika Padukone shot a small advertisement/video for "Malik Law Chambers" who sponsored the "Break Ke Baad - UK trip. She said, "I would like to thank Mr Malik and Malik Law Chambers for supporting Break Ke Baad and for inviting us to London. I am looking forward to what you all will have to say once you have seen the film."

             However, her visit to CHAK89 was very short because she had to catch a flight but she was able to spend a few minutes at a small meet and greet time where a few people took pictures with the actor. She was driven straight to the airport, where she caught her flight to the New York to promote the film in the States. 

Break Ke Baad inspired by celebrities’ love lives :

             Forget about Hollywood celebrities. There is no dearth of break ups in Bollywood . In fact, ‘on-off on-off’ relationships are rampant among the Indian celebrities. And one of the main reasons for break up has been lack of communication and heavy work schedule. Coincidentally, Break Ke Baad, starring Iman Khan and Deepika Padukone, is also about life after break up and long-distance relationship.

            Yes, it looks like Break Ke Baad is inspired by Indian celebrities’ love lives. Almost all the celebrities both married and in relationship, have expressed their concern at one point of time or the other over not spending enough time with their spouse or lovers. They spend most of their time shooting abroad or other cities in India. This plays spoil sports to their relationships many a time.

            Many Indian celebrities like Ranbir Kapoor-Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra, Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif and several others have split due to misunderstand. The problem is they don’t have enough time for each other, as they spend most of their time shooting films co-stars lead to break ups.

              Very much like celebrities' love lives, Break Ke Baad too deals with the hardships and insecurities that lovers face in a long-distance relationship. The film could be a copy of real life love stories of our own celebrities! abroad.

Walmart Black Friday 2010 Ads and Deals

               The Black Friday 2010 is just several hours away. Several shopping stores are currently having their Black Friday Online Sale including Amazon, Target, MacMall and Kohl’s. Shoppers in the United States always treat Walmart as the most amazing store during Black Friday and that is actually correct as Walmart is giving hundreds of deals for great deals for its customers.

              But before the Black Friday 2010, the Thanksgiving Day is being celebrated first which is today, November 25, 2010. Walmart Supercenters are open for 24 hours during the Thanksgiving Day and it will continue to be open until the Black Friday shopping day. This time, Walmart Supercenters have an amazing special for shoppers. If customers bring a competitor’s ad, they will match the price with an identical product.

                Walmart is having amazing deals and sales for Black Friday in different categories ranging from home appliances and essentials, clothings, movies, electronics, computers, cell phones, laptops and more. The most amazing deals come from the electronics category and the televisions.

                For computers, Walmart will have HP Pavilion Desktop PC Tower w/5GB Memory, 1TB Hard Drive with Windows 7 Home Premium for only $498.00 and HP Pavilion Slimline Desktop PC Bundle w/AMD Sempron Processor 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive with Windows 7 Home Premium for $398.00.

                The shopping store will also have amazing deals on laptops like the Acer 10.1″ Netbook Bundle for only $248.00 which is now available on their Black Friday online sales. Aside from this, other laptops on sale are Acer Aspire 17.3″ Laptop PC w/Intel Dual Core Processor, 4GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 for $498.00, eMachines 15.6″ Laptop w/2GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 for $198.00, HP 15.6″ Laptop w/Intel Celeron Processor, 3GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive, Windows 7 for $298.00 and HP 17.3″ Dual Core Laptop w/Pentium Dual Core Processor, 3GB Memory, 320GB Hard Drive which will be sold for $398.00.

                   So if you want to buy a new one or replace your current desktop PC or laptop, Walmart is the best place to shop and Black Friday is the best day to grab these items.

IMDB.com Exclusively Streams Band of Horses

              SEATTLE & LOS ANGELES, Nov 16, 2010 - Band of Horses and IMDb.com, Inc. (www.imdb.com), the authoritative source of information on movies, TV and celebrities, announced that beginning today the band's surreal biker flick homage "Dilly" will have its world premiere exclusively on IMDb. The unprecedented collaboration is IMDb's first-ever foray into music video premieres. To watch and learn more about Band of Horses' "Dilly" video, visit www.imdb.com/bandofhorses.

            "This is the first of our videos to truly capture the essence of what a day in our personal lives is actually like," said Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell."We couldn't be more proud or more excited to be taking our first step into the realm of music videos with Band of Horses," said Col Needham, founder and CEO of IMDb. "We believe IMDb can serve as a powerful new platform for musicians to introduce compelling, exclusive content to our passionate community of more than 100 million entertainment enthusiasts."

              Directed by Philip Andelman, the uninhibited, borderline disturbing music video (runtime 3:30) is a companion to the "Dilly" track off the band's self-financed "Infinite Arms" album (released May 18, 2010 on Brown/Fat Possum/Columbia) that The New York Times refers to as "anthemic and dynamic." Shot entirely on location in the Mojave Desert, the video was inspired by '70s biker films and contains surprising, playful elements, including synchronized dancing and an eclectic cast comprised of actors and bikers. The "Dilly" video reflects the spirit of creativity and freedom that pervades the "Infinite Arms" album, which was written, recorded and inspired by different locales across America, including the Mojave Desert.

                 Band of Horses is Ben Bridwell, Creighton Barrett, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey and Bill Reynolds. "Now it's hard to remember it any other way." Band of Horses singer Ben Bridwell's compellingly evasive lyrical style will never let the listener on to the exact intent of this line as it appears in "Neighbor," the expansive "Infinite Arms" album closer, but taken out of the context of the song it becomes a sentiment of currency. The present state of the band is as close to ideal as rock n' roll can be.
        
                Having assembled a true creative and personal collective, designed and signed the record deal of his dreams, and made an album free of any influence other than his onstage brothers in arms, it's hard to imagine that Bridwell cares to dwell on any time but the present. It took nearly two years, virtual bankruptcy, five states and a dead falcon to get there, but "Infinite Arms" is the product of a band doing things on their own terms and finally learning to enjoy the results. The songs on "Infinite Arms" project the essence of the different locales across America that became the setting for the recording and songwriting process behind the album. The serene woods of Northern Minnesota and the band's native Carolinas inspired the songwriting, lending the compositions an air of comfort and familiarity. While those locations helped the songs come to life, the sounds were influenced by the recording settings. The rich musical heritage of Muscle Shoals, Ala., the sublime beauty of Asheville's Blue Ridge Mountains, the glamorous Hollywood Hills, and the vast Mojave desert helped yield the group's most focused and dynamic recordings to date. 

Blake Griffin Gettin’ Busy

        Griffin's first career points came on a dunk. And it seemed as if every field goal since then was via the same, spectacular fashion. You thought Griffin was about excitement.Both good guesses, but they don't capture his essence.If you really think about it, you'll realize the operative word for Griffin is creation.

        We had our first clue in this Clippers website video of Griffin and teammate DeAndre Jordan hitting trick shots all over Griffin's backyard. He banked the ball off a wall; bounced the ball off his upstairs deck, over a fence and through the hoop; and hit a shot from the far side of the yard. He was creative enough to find every way to make a shot on his property.


          You can see it in games as well. How many other players would think the best path to a fast-break dunk would be to blaze past a defender, spin into the lane, keep him on your hip, then rise up over him? Most minds don't think that way. Certainly not most minds attached to a 6-foot-10, 250-pound body.

           If you combine it all you get someone creating excitement and opportunity from effort and ability. It's an awe-inspiring mix, and could lead to him winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award.
            I picked John Wall as the favorite because the Washington Wizards' point guard would have the ball in his hands to start almost every possession. Wall has an advantage that's similar to this Lamar Odom description of Derrick Rose: "He's their first option, and he has the ball first." Griffin was dependent on an ineffective Baron Davis and an inexperienced Eric Bledsoe at point guard. It's also easier to double- team Griffin at the forward spot than it is a point guard on the perimeter.

            Except Griffin creates a way to get his own shots: offensive rebounds. Snag one of those things and all of a sudden you're looking at a point-blank shot, often with one or even no defenders around. Griffin averages four offensive rebounds per game, although it seems he sometimes gets that many on a single trip down the floor. But those second chances help him rank second among rookies in field goal attempts per game; and if you round up his 14.7 shots per game and round down Wall's 15.3 they are even.

             Going into Wednesday's games they were exactly even in scoring average, at 18.9 per game, the best among rookies. Griffin has the rookie rebounding lead all to himself; his 11 per night are four better than runner-up DeMarcus Cousins.

             More impressive than Griffin's stats is what he is doing in the NBA universe. He has created a compelling reason to watch the Clippers. With his frenzied style, on any given play he's a threat to break the rim or break a bone. They should call him Break Griffin. He's a mixture of a young Charles Barkley and Evel Knievel. Did you ever think we'd see that combination?Griffin has created a new basketball paradigm.

Super Bowl Half Time Show Performers

         The headliners for the 2011 Super Bowl halftime show have been announced, reports. The Rolling Stone Black Eyed Peas were confirmed as the top performers by a Dallas newspaper.

          Super Bowl XLV is being played at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas on February 6, and the Black Eyed Peas are the first urban act to grace the Super Bowl since 2004, when Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson had their “wardrobe malfunction.” Since then, performers have included Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Prince

, Bruce Springsteen, and The Who.

           The Who was actually the reason that the Super Bowl wanted to “go younger.” David Hill, the president of Fox Sports, said that he was watching The Who “and going, ‘Oh no, please.” Hill actually wanted a country act to perform that year, given that the game was in Texas.

           The sixth album by the Black Eyed Peas, The Beginning, comes out on November 30.The News also sparked some speculation about what other performers might suit up for the festivities surrounding the big game, including the singing of the national anthem before kickoff. Following up on Carrie Underwood's slot last February and Oscar-winning singer Jennifer Hudson's emotional take in 2009, the paper predicted that doing the honors in 2011 would be "a young, Middle America-appeal singer able to hit the notes, or an Oscar-winning R&B belter ... think Beyoncé." The latter makes a bit of sense, since Beyoncé is from Houston and is in the midst of recording a new album that could see release in 2011. Plus, she handled the job in her hometown in 2004. 

As a sequel to Queen Latifah's "America the Beautiful" last year, The News floated another Texas gal, Fort Worth's Kelly Clarkson. "She's got the combo — 'American Idol' champ, budding actress, feet in the pop, R&B and country worlds. And Texas credentials: She's the big-voiced hometown gal from Burleson who recently sang the anthem for the World Series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington."

Apple Black Friday sales

        On Apple.com, the company is still teasing its Black Friday ‘one day special shopping event, but offering few hints on as to what you’ll actually be able to buy.If you’re an existing Apple customer, or somehow got on the Apple e-blast list, you’ve probably already gotten word about the company’s Black Friday teaser.

         Today’s email from Apple is titled “Friday only: A special shopping event” and promotes a special, one-day shopping event this Black Friday. Retail stores open at 8 am or consumers have the option of shopping online all day on some “deals.” But when Apple announced earlier this month about a Beatles addition to the iTunes library that people would “never forget,” I’m afraid this special Black Friday offer may just be another Apple cries wolf scenario.        

         Ads on the Apple website started teasing special deals, but haven’t announced any specific discounts. Apple rarely cuts the price of its iOS products, but may offer larger discounts on its related accessories. Industry professionals have said that if previous holiday seasons are of any indication, iPods, keyboard s, mice, MacBooks and iMacs are most likely to be discounted by Apple.

          For the last two years, Apple has offered similar savings on Black Friday, such as deals like $101 off the iMac and MacBook Pro and savings on iPods and Apple TV. And with chatter in the industry of a new iPad 2 in the works, we wonder if the tablet will have anything to do with this Friday’s secret sale.
Since when did Apple get so secretive about its products and offerings? If you really want to get a good deal on an Apple product, you may want to check out one of their authorized resellers.